Hoping for a Diegetic UI for Cyberpunk Sequel

[Cyberdude]

I think by the time 2030/2032 comes around and Cyberpunk sequel launches, we will see more in-world UI's and dispense with "gamey" off world UI screens with the usual look to them.

For example, when I go up to a food vendor and want to buy something, instead of switching to a game menu to pick tiny icons, the vendor hands me a menu, I look down at it and select a slice of pizza, then I put the menu down, the vendor hands me a slice of pizza and I eat it.

More work? Maybe. Maybe not. Use AI to create all the animations by then. But to have a truly immersive world (not unlike how RDR2 did it years ago), this is how it's got to be.
We should be planning our games now, for what others will be doing and expect in 2030+.

Second big suggestion I have is around conversations and dialog. In CP2077, the game tells you straight up which dialog choices matter (highlight in yellow) and which are fluff (blue). This ruins the whole enjoyment of deciding for yourself how to get through a conversation, and really only appeals to those wanting to skip the flavor text. Well that's kind of meta and definitely takes you out of the game. Dialog should be a thoughtful choice about how to find information and resolve a conversation. The game shouldn't tell you the path.

On the subject of conversations. There are many ways to make dialog choices matter without having to fork story outcomes. Some choices or paths can unlock gifts, items, map locations, evidence, get exp, clues that make solving other missions quicker, etc. Dialog can be a mini-game into itself, re-inventing the otherwise fake illusion of choice or benefit current game flavor text is giving us.

90% of the dialog choices in CP2077 mean nothing and do nothing. So hoping the sequel has a fresh take on how dialog in RPG's are handled.

 

[WhiteYoghurt]

Hey,
I agree.

Though the animations (or more like interactions) are already in the game - the food machines, holocalls, lifts (well, only a few buttons ),...
There were also some scrapped mechanics, like item inspection, interactive ads, hacking...network view:

, and there were probably plans for more, but they didn't make it to the game for one reason or another (rushed release, optimization,...).

Also, there was plenty of body language, gestures,... - like Song Bird delicately putting the shard into the glass, Johny giving a middle finger, Evelynn making nervous movements in the conversation before the heist,...

So, I think CDPR was working with that very heavily. The FPP and seamless gameplay were meant just for that.

 

[Cyberdude]

Yeah, it's a heavy lift if we're talking about that labor in today's tools - so those immersive nice-to-haves would have been first to get cut back. But I think if I'm CDPR and we're realistically looking at a 2032 release for cyberpunk 2 (let's be real, if the size and scope of the sequel is to be proportional to the size and scope of Witcher 2 over Witcher 1 - which is what they are targeting), then it's a long ways off. But it's crucial now, to start laying the groundwork for how you're going to do these kinds of things, which by then will be must-haves.

The last thing you want is to burn 5 man years of hand labor only for these things to become super easy or automated using AI tools soon after. I think we're pretty close to being able to crest this mountain where all the tedious labor in video games can be off loaded to AI's while humans focus on the "fun stuff". But it's a path you will have to commit to, because I really don't see CDPR spending a billion dollars to make CP2 and that's the trajectory things appear if you forecast out the cost of 2077 along with the increase in ambition they intend.